17 Feb 2009

Magenta does not exist

Author:

Olivier Laurent

Liz Elliot at The Neurostimulation Technology Portal writes something quite interesting about the colour Magenta: it does not exist.

A beam of white light is made up of all the colours in the spectrum. The range extends from red through to violet, with orange, yellow, green and blue in between. But there is one colour that is notable by its absence. Pink (or magenta, to use its official name) simply isn’t there. But if pink isn’t in the light spectrum, how come we can see it?

She concludes that magenta is in fact a construction of our brain that tries 'to bridge the gap between red and violet, because such a colour does not exist in the light spectrum. Magenta has no wavelength attributed to it, unlike all the other spectrum colours.'

Read it here.

  • Comment
  • Print
  • RSS
  • LinkedIn

Comments

Since we are able to experience magenta it exists. Anything we can experience and name exists. It is called a fact. If it did not exist it would not be possible to see it.

In the same way, and as nonsensically "scientists" argue that negative numbers exist, and if I remember correctly from "maths" they can even be multiplied together to create a positive result.

Magenta is not a fiction, but negative quantities are- hence "science"'s failure to advance civilization. Our mathematics is as fundamentally flawed as this contention.

It would be a test were a chameleon placed on a magenta surface. Not one "scientists" would consider, as they collectively consider that the chameleon is colour-blind, among other things.....

Posted by: Peter Harrap on 24 Feb 2009 at 20:12

You are right to say that since we experience and name it, Magenta does exist. However, in the light spectrum, that colour is not present at all. Our brains create this colour when it is unable to process the light waves the eye is receiving. We are used to it being Magenta, but from a purely electric (the messages sent to our brains from our eyes) and biological, Magenta is a figment of our imagination...

Posted by: Olivier Laurent on 24 Feb 2009 at 20:20

Logic demands you decide. Can you say it exists because we experience it, but that our brains do not? And, that the brain then "creates" a new colour or hue which just happens to be the complimentary colour of green.

The rational mind pursuing this idea espouses as fact that magenta is the complimentary colour of green, a colour that also does not, according to you, therefore exist. You cannot have a complimentary colour of a non-existant one.

Posted by: Peter Harrap on 24 Feb 2009 at 21:08

PREVIOUS POST NEXT POST
  • luminous-shelf Luminous Books in East London is an artist curated bookshop specializing in second hand fiction, philosophy, art and curiosities.
  • tpg-bookshop-l-ramillies-street-l-2010 When The Photographer's Gallery closed to begin construction on a brand new space in Autumn 2011, many thought the bookshop would have closed with it. But in the spirit of keeping aspects of the gallery alive, talks and courses have continued to run in other locations and the Bookshop has been running from a temporary space.
  • claire-de-rouen-01 The Claire de Rouen Bookshop is not so much a place dealing with passing trade, but rather a destination people seek out, building its reputation based on word of mouth and those in the know
  • pastor-marrion-01 Pastor Marrion P'Udongo has been called the "Oskar Schindler" of Congo, a man who's dedicated himself to saving and nurturing the lives of others. He's also been one of the most reliable fixers for photographers and journalists in the war-torn country, and he now needs your help
  • cnn-logo Last month, CNN quietly announced it was laying off "a dozen" photojournalists across its US bureaus as, it says, the network can now rely on user-generated content thanks to new consumer technologies
  • alecsothebay Earlier this month, Alec Soth took to eBay to raise funds for a charitable cause - the prize? A portrait commission with the Magnum photographer
  • rocco-rorandelli-emphasis-02 Rocco Rorandelli has been documenting the tobacco industry for the last three years, ever since he asked himself what lay behind a cigarette.
  • ghana-portraits-3 When photographer Peter DiCampo decided to seek funds for his project Life Without Lights, he chose the Kickstarter platform instead of the more commonly used - at least in the photojournalism community - Emphas.is. But he had good reasons, he tells BJP
  • in-the-shadow-of-the-pyramids008 Laura El-Tantawy has been working, for the past five years, on a long-term project about her homeland: Egypt. Now, as the country is undergoing massive political and social changes, she's appealing for help to continue her work
  • neil-osborne13 Photographer Neil Osborne is raising funds on Emphas.is to document a success story - how one man has helped save the Black Turtle from extinction

Blog roll

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • AudioBoo
  • Rss
  • Mobile

© Incisive Media Investments Limited 2012, Published by Incisive Financial Publishing Limited, Haymarket House, 28-29 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4RX, are companies registered in England and Wales with company registration numbers 04252091 & 04252093

About us:

Tests:

Cameras:

Photography:

Your Rights:

Resources:

Accreditations: